george warsop



dinard glut-rt cient l dtihiw.

GEORGE WARSOI, 0F NOTTINGHAM, ENGLD.

Letters Patent No. 100,090, dated Februmy 22, 1870; patented in; England September 8, 1868.

STEAM AND AIR-ENGINE.

The Schedule referred' to in these Letters Patent and making pan o' the namev To all to whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, GEORGE WAnsoP, of 17 Bromley Place, Nottingham, a subject ofthe Queen of Great Britain, have invented or discovered new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forObtainin g Mo-y tive Power by Means of Air and Steam and I, the said GEORGE W'ARSOP, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to he performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the ollowing statement thereof', that is to say:

The machinery which I employ consists of asteamboiler, and an engine, which may be similar to those now in use, and the engine works an air-pump or pumps drawing in cold air and forcing it through a coil of pipes, o r otherv suitable chamber, heated by the furnace, and from this heated coil or chamber' the air passes into the boiler, and is caused to rise in a finely divided state through the water therein contained. The air and steam together pass from the boiler to work the engine.

'.lheheating of the air, after it leaves the pump or pumps, may be effected by passing it through hollow tire-bars, or apparatus such as is now employed for superheating steam', may be used for heating the air.

The air is caused to be inely divided as it passes through the water, by means of partitions of wiregauze or other open-work or perforated material.`

In order that my said invention may be most fully understood, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I prefer to carry the same into effect.

I take an ordinary high-pressure steam-engine, but of larger size than would, it' it were worked in theordinary manner, be required for .the office which it has to perform, and I apply to this engine an air-pump or air-pumps, by preference, of such capacity that for each stroke they will together yield a measure of compressed air of the boiler-pressure of the engine equal to about one-halt' to tive-eighths the measure of mixed air and steam which is expended at each stroke ofthe engine.

1n this case more than half of the' power obtained in the working-cylinder will be expended again in compressing the air, and the arca of the Workingcylinder must be proportionally large. These proportions, however, may be varied, and it is advantageous eccentrics or cranks on the `main shaft of the engine,

and may be of ordinary construction.

I prefer that the valves of the air-pump should be ordinary conical valves, and the valves should be tf sufficient area to give free passage to the compressed air, with but a short lift, for it is important to the proper working of the engine that the valve should closeA again rapidly, as soon as the stroke of the pump is completed. The inlet-valve may in each case be'a springmllet, workin over a assaoe in the iston which is of' a sutllcient area freely to admit the air, and the pallet-spring is not suiiiciently strong to oppose to it any considerable resistance, but the spring is yet sufiicien t,

wise in connection with it, an air-heating apparatus is provided. Such a heating apparatus may be used as has heretofore been employed for 'superheating steam. It should be capable of raising the compressed air from the air-pumps to atemperature at least 'equal to, and advantageously it may somewhat exceed the saturated steam temperature corresponding with the 'pressure at which it is intended to work.

v The engine may be worked at any high pressure;

50 pounds per square inch above the atmospheric pressure is a suitable and convenient pressure, but` f greater economy may be obtained by the use of a higher pressure.

Coils of wrought-iron pipes in the boiler furnace and iiue form a convenient air-heating apparatus, and in small engines a part of the coil may advantageously form the fire-bars of the boiler. The compressed air, after passingthrough the heating apparatus, is admitted into the boiler at the lowest part of the Waterspace, through a valve which is employed to prevent the escape ofwater from the boiler into the heating apparatus.V This valve, also, it is found convenient to make like the exit-valves of the air-pumps.

The heated air, as it rises 'up through the water in the boiler, is caused to be divided into as many and minute streams as possible by means of suitable` par-v titions. I have found for this purpose the use of wiregauze to be convenient, and I arrangeit asl observation may in each case suggest. Wherever the air rises up in quantity, there I oppose to it a number of thicknesses of wire-gauze, sufficient to reduce the flow, and in this way I distribute the air and cause it to ascend equally, or nearly so, in every part of the boiler. It is important that the distribution of the air among the water in the boiler should be attended to, for in this engine one main purpose which the water in the boiler performs is to regulate the heat of the air; absorbing from it any excess of heat it may-have acquired before it enters the boiler, or' supplying heat the expansion ofthe airby heat between the time when it is taken in by the air-pumps and the time when it is passed, together with the steam, into the working-cylinder. The degree to which the steam and air will result for the greatest part, or in great part, from are expanded in the working-cylinder, will, as hereto-- fore, depend on the `conditions of the `application in each particular case; but I would remark that, with this engine, expansion may advantageously be carried to a considerable extent without there being any necessity to steam-jacket the cylinder', the cylinder .being simply clothed with felt in the usual Way.'

When the expansion is' to be carried far, it is desirable that the air should enter the boiler at a temperature considerably above that of the water which the -boiler contains, and then the mixed steam and air will pass oli' from the boiler at a heat a good many degrees above that of saturated steam at va corresponding pressure; or, in fact, the steam which the mixture contains will be to a small extent superheated, and so is in a state to be veryadvautageously worked expansively.

The exhaust steam and air from the engine, I cause to pa-ss through a. tubular casing. It is clothed with felt to prevent loss of heat, and the pipe which receives the compressed air, immediately it comes from the airpumps, is made to pass through the interior of the casing from end to end, entering it nea-r where the exhaust air and steam escape, and leaving it to pass any great loss of heat with the exhaust airand steam.-

. to the air-heater near where the exhaust steam and I would remark that by means ot'these arrangementsl the theoretical economy of au air-en gine, that is to say, that of an engine worked by the expansion of air by heat, are to a considerable extent practically realized, while many of the difiiculties attendant on the use of air-engines are avoided.-

The steam-boiler affords a ready means of regulating the temperature of the air, as already stated,`and also of obtaining the requisite pressure for starting. 1t insures that the the temperature of thel mixed air andv steam passing to the cylinder shall never rise so high as to injure the lubricants there employed, and the steam itself', as in an ordinary steam-engine, furnishes suicient moisture to prevent the rubbing surfa'ces from being absolutely dry. l The manner adopted for heating the air, also, it may be observed, is such as to preclude the possibility .of the air carrying with it dust and cutting particles in to the working-cylinder. l

The engine may, where the nature of the work renders it desirable, have more than one working-cylin der, and again, it is not essential to my invention that the engineshould be 'of the cylinder construction. It may be a rotary engine, although in all cases I prefera cylinder engine. A l

The invention is applicable to locomotive as well as to stationary and 'portable engines, and in its application to locomotive-engines, a considerable advantage is that the quantity of water which is required for its supply is vmuch smaller than is required by an ordinarysteam-engine of the same power.

heated by passing through a coil of pipes in the smokebox before passing into the heating apparatus in the furnace, and so utilize the'waste heat in the smoke-box.

In some cases, especially' in large engines, a separate fire may be employed for the air-heater; in other `cases the air maybe forced at once in'to the boilerwithout being previously heated, and so be made to take u`p its heat entirely from'the water in the boiler. I believe, however, that it is always more advantageous to employ au air-heater to heat the air previous to its admission to the boiler. i

The annexed drawing represents a stationary engine constructed according to my invention. t

In the side and front views-'- a represents the boiler; b, the steam-cylinder;

c, the crank-shaft d, the airpump; e, the steam-pipe; f, the air-pipe; g, the exhaust-pipe, and h, the air-heater. In the section--v p a represents the skin orshell of the boiler; b, the iire-box; c, the air-pipe (I, the heater; e, the admission-valve, and f, the wire-gauze air-dispersers. f Ihe air is conducted through the fire-box and heater and injected into the boiler, risingup through vthe an-V the boiler-skin.

I do not broadly claim forcing heated air into a boiler, asthat has been donepreviously to my invention.

I claim as my invention- The combination of the boiler, the lire-box, and the operate substantially as hereinbefbre'set forth.

partsbeing constructed to operate4 substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

Also, the combination of the boiler, fire-box, airA supply pipe, air-heater, -and air-dispersers, all these parts heilig constructed to operate substantiall'yas herein before. set forth. Y 4

Also, the combination of the boiler, air-pump, airsupply pipe, and the air-dispersers. all these parts being constructed to operate substantially as hereinbefore set forth. p

Also, the combination of the boiler, air-pump, airpipe, heater, and the airdispersers, all these 'parts being constructed to operate substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

Also, the combination of the boiler, steam-cylinder, crank-shaft, air-pump, air-pipe, heater, and exhaustpipe, all these partsvr being constructed to operatesub- 'stantia-lly as hereinbefore set forth.

' GEORGE WRSOP.

Witnesses:

G. J. WARREN, H. W. SPENCER,

. J onu HARnrsoN, l

Notary Public, london.

In the case of locomotives, the air may rst be nular dispensers f, arranged between the fire-box and airdispersers, all these parts being constructed toV Also, the combination of the boiler, the tire-bore," the air-supply pipe, and the air-dispersers, all these Bothof No. 17 Graceckuflch Street, London.A 

